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CBC News Posted: Feb 07, 2018 4:32 PM ET Last Updated: Feb 07, 2018
4:32 PM ET
Pete McLeod, an air racer from Red Lake, Ont., had a rough start to
the season during the 2018 Red Bull Air Race Championship in Abu
Dhabi, UAE, on Friday, Feb 2. McLeod posted a 'Did Not Finish' and was
disqualified after exceeding the 12G limit.

Pete McLeod, an air racer from Red Lake, Ont., had a rough start to
the season during the 2018 Red Bull Air Race Championship in Abu
Dhabi, UAE, on Friday, Feb 2. McLeod posted a 'Did Not Finish' and was
disqualified after exceeding the 12G limit. (Pete McLeod / Facebook)
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Pete McLeod of Red Lake takes 3rd in world air racing competition

An air racer from Red Lake, Ont., said he had a rough start to the
season in the 2018 Red Bull Air Race championships in Abu Dhabi, UAE,
as he, and other competitors, adjust to new regulations.

"It was a long weekend for me actually ... and a lot of positives to
take away but I ended up with a penalty in the first round on race day
and I ended up in last place," Pete McLeod told CBC Thunder Bay's
Superior Morning.

"It was an over-G penalty."

Pete McLeod of Red Lake takes 3rd in world air racing competition

McLeod said he was given a "Did Not Finish" after he was measured
experiencing G-forces of over 12Gs on a turn in the opening
elimination round on Friday, Feb. 2.

"There's a limit of 10 and 12Gs and I just barely exceeded the 12G
limit," McLeod said. "They put that limit on for safety and they'll
send you out of the tracks, so I didn't post a time on that run."

The air racer from northwestern Ontario placed third in the same race
last year and described the experience as racing in a car without a
speed indicator and trying to go as fast as you can without going
above the limit.

"Of course it would be advantageous to be as close to that limit as
possible ... but if you don't really know what it is, that limit is
hard to feel out so its something that we see regularly," McLeod said.

He said in the first round, about two out of 14 air racers were
disqualified for going over the force of gravity limit.

Built specifically for air racing, McLeod's Edge 540 V3 is "not your
average Cessna," and is custom built specifically to handle high
gravity forces and fast turns.

"Unlike a racing car which has breaks and slows down for the corner,
in an airplane when we take a corner we don't have to slow down so
that keeps the speed very high and we still want the corner to be very
sharp so we have a fast time," McLeod said.

He added that one of the biggest misconceptions about air racing is
that the race happens far up in the sky, when in reality, the racers
are only about 10 to 25 metres high, racing through pylons as fast as
they can.

"It's pretty physically demanding and again, that comes from the
G-force and the manoeuvring of the plane," McLeod explained, "It
changes direction very quickly."

"You are only in the race track for 60 seconds ... [but] you come out
of there feeling like you did about an hour workout."

Although McLeod didn't get to improve his third place finish from last
year, he said he's looking forward to the next race in Cannes, France
on April 21-22.
----------------------------

“But it's a lot of excitement. For me, I grew up in an airplane up in
Red Lake, [where there was] a lot of bush flying. To be in an airplane
is very normal and I've got a passion for speed and performance."

He said the aircraft are flown at a low level, between 30 and 50 feet
in the air.

"Being in the cockpit of that airplane in the racetrack is one of the
happiest places for me I can think of,” he said.

The last world championship race was in Germany in 2010. The race has
been on hiatus since then as organizers overhauled the competition,
including efforts to make the race safer.

McLeod, 30, said it's been tough not to be able to compete, but he's
"thrilled" to be back at it.

“The race tracks are tremendously safe,” he said. “The pylons are
designed so that if we do hit them — they're air-filled — they just
kind of burst."

McLeod said air-racing takes him around the world, but he visits Red
Lake as often as he can to visit family and to go moose hunting,
fishing, and snowmobiling.

"It's been quite a ride and, I've said it before, it's a big
eye-opener [and] quite a ride for just a kid from Red Lake, Ont."